The present invention relates to a computerized system for monitoring a facility comprised of one or more buildings. For safety and security, such facilities are provided with monitoring systems that employ detectors distributed throughout the facility and a central monitoring station, such as a control panel, operatively connected to detectors to receive messages and to control the devices. Such systems generally include varying types of detectors such as smoke detectors, heat detectors, motion detectors and security detectors that determine when doors or other entry points have been tampered with.
The problem with prior control panels is that the user interfaces generally provided are not designed to be used with different types of users. Further, such control panels do not provide sophisticated users with several different modes of operation allowing the user the ability to generate reports, performance system maintenance, and install new nodes, modules and devices from the control panel using the user interface.